Republican legislators threaten ‘consequences’ against International Criminal Court officials, including travel bans.
Lawmakers in the United States have slammed the International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) decision to seek arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials accused of war crimes in Gaza with some Republicans threatening to impose “consequences” against the international tribunal.
Joe Biden was less confrontational in his opposition to Monday’s announcement from ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, but the US president still labelled the move “outrageous”.
Khan is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant as well as three senior Hamas officials.
Khan accused the Israeli leaders of bearing “criminal responsibility” for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, including intentional attacks against civilians, willful killings and starvation of civilians as a weapon of war.
The response in Washington, DC – where Israel enjoys staunch support among lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties – was swift.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton said Monday’s announcement shows that the ICC — which is tasked with investigating war crimes, crimes against humanity and other atrocities — is “a farce”.
“My colleagues and I look forward to make sure neither Khan, his associates nor their families will ever set foot again in the United States,” Cotton wrote on X.
Neither the US nor Israel are parties to the Rome Statute, under which the ICC was established, and neither recognise the jurisdiction of the court.
Palestine, a nonmember observer state at the United Nations, formally accepted the ICC’s jurisdiction in 2015, extending the court’s authority to investigate atrocities committed in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Several Republican legislators had warned Khan in late April against seeking arrest warrants against Netanyahu or other Israeli officials after reports began to circulate that such a request was imminent.
“Such actions are illegitimate and lack legal basis, and if carried out will result in severe sanctions against you and your institution,” they wrote in a letter that was made public this month.
The letter was signed by a dozen top Republican senators, including Cotton, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Tim Scott.
Intimidation must ‘cease immediately’, Khan says
“Target Israel and we will target you. If you move forward … we will move to end all American support for the ICC, sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States. You have been warned,” it concluded.
Israeli attacks on the coastal enclave have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians since the war began in early October, prompting accusations that Israel was committing genocide.
Severe Israeli restrictions on water, food, medical supplies, fuel and other critical aid from entering Gaza have also created a humanitarian crisis.
During his announcement on Monday, Khan said: “Israel, like all states, has a right to defend its population,” but that does not “absolve Israel of its obligations to comply with international humanitarian law”.
He also said, “It is critical in this moment that my office and all parts of the court continue to conduct our work with full independence and impartiality.
“And I insist that all attempts to impede, to intimidate or to improperly influence the officials of this court cease immediately. My office will not hesitate to act, pursuant to provisions of Article 70 of the Rome Statute, if such conduct continues and persists.”
Article 70 makes “impeding, intimidating or corruptly influencing an official of the Court for the purpose of forcing or persuading the official not to perform, or to perform improperly, his or her duties” an offence that the court has jurisdiction over.
Biden rejected what he portrayed as an attempt to compare the actions of Israel and Hamas.
“The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” Biden said in a statement. “And let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
While Biden came into office in 2021 pledging to re-engage with international institutions after his predecessor Donald Trump’s isolationist stance, the US continues to have a fraught relationship with the ICC.
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